COULDN’T HE HAVE PLAYED HOOPS IN CHICAGO???
1962: The White Sox signed pitcher Dave DeBusschere, better known for his basketball prowess, out of the University of Detroit. The 6-foot-6 right-hander was an All-American hoopster but a $75,000 bonus got him to put his name on a Sox contract. DeBusschere went 10-1 in the Sally League in 1962. DeBusschere was up and down with the Sox in 1962 and showed big league potential in 1963 when he fired a six-hit shutout against Cleveland on Aug. 13. The Detroit Pistons wanted DeBusschere so badly they made him player-coach at age 24, prompting him to give up baseball.

HERRMANN SENT PACKING
1975: The White Sox traded popular catcher Ed Herrmann to the New York Yankees for minor leaguers Ken Bennett, Terry Quinn, Fred Anyzeski and John Narron. The trade, which was prompted by a salary-demand of $32,000, ended Herrmann’s seven-year career on the Southside. The highlight of Herrmann’s stay came in 1974 when he was named to the American League All-Star team.

(1 and) O (in) CANADA!
1997: The White Sox trimmed the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 in 10 innings in the season-opener in Toronto. Tony Pena’s single in the 10th inning scored Ray Durham from first base with the eventual winning run. Norberto “Paco” Martin forced extra-innings with a pinch-home run in the ninth inning. Tony Castillo, a former Blue Jay, got the win while Roberto Hernandez notched the save. The game marked the White Sox debut of Albert Belle, who went 2-for-5 with a double, a home run and three RBI.

WHITE SOX ON THE MARK
2002: The White Sox built a big lead and held on to win the opener 6-5 in Seattle. Mark Buehrle started and turned in six stellar innings in outdueling Freddy Garcia. Sandy Alomar Jr.’s two-run double in the sixth gave the Sox the lead for good. The Sox made it 6-1 in the seventh thanks to a two-run double by Paul Konerko, an RBI single by Jose Valentin and a homer by Carlos Lee. The Sox pen allowed the Mariners to get to within one but Keith Foulke got Mike Cameron to fly out with the bases loaded to end the game for the save.

JOSE STRIKES GOLD
2006: The White Sox agreed to terms with Jose Contreras on a three-year, $29 million contract extension. Contreras earned the extension by going 15-7 with a 3.81 ERA. He finished the 2005 regular season with an eight-game winning streak. In addition, Contreras went 3-1 and started Game 1 of each postseason series for the 2005 Sox. Under the terms of the extension, Contreras will earn $9 million in 2007 and $10 million in both 2008 and 2009. … Also on this day, the Sox placed reliever Dustin Hermanson on the 15-day disabled list and purchased the contract of left-handed reliever Boone Logan.

Editor's Note: Information for these entries is gleaned from the author's files, retrosheet.org, various Internet sources, press reports of the day, White Sox media guides and the many White Sox books written by the great Rich Lindberg

asg2003ws2005

04-01-2008, 12:39 PM

There was no chicago nba team in 1962. The bulls started play in 1966.

Scottiehaswheels

04-01-2008, 12:47 PM

APRIL 1ST

JOSE STRIKES GOLD
2006: The White Sox agreed to terms with Jose Contreras on a three-year, $29 million contract extension.

The April Fools Day prank that just keeps giving....

StatManDu

04-01-2008, 12:49 PM

If DeBuscherre were to play pro hoops in Chicago while with the Sox it would have been with the Packers or the Zephyrs. The Chicago Packers played in the NBA in 1961-62 and changed their monicker to the Zephyrs in 1962-63. The franchise moved to Baltimore after the 1963 season and are currently in Washington as the Wizards.

voodoochile

04-01-2008, 12:59 PM

I'm a little surprised you didn't mention the famous Gator Bait Incident from 1954.

IIRC, Nellie Fox told Stan Jok that there was a famous story of lost pirate gold in the swamps outside of Tampa. Nellie was clearly playing an April Fools joke on Stan, but the story is that Stan went looking for the treasure and ended up getting bit on his rump by an alligator and earned the nickname gatorbait. Stan was only on the team a few years and didn't play much, but his name lives on through history.

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned it...

StatManDu

04-01-2008, 02:38 PM

That is awesome ... I will dig for it ... Thanks for briging that up. That is the great thing about this feature: I am always finding out new things

voodoochile

04-01-2008, 10:52 PM

I'm a little surprised you didn't mention the famous Gator Bait Incident from 1954.

IIRC, Nellie Fox told Stan Jok that there was a famous story of lost pirate gold in the swamps outside of Tampa. Nellie was clearly playing an April Fools joke on Stan, but the story is that Stan went looking for the treasure and ended up getting bit on his rump by an alligator and earned the nickname gatorbait. Stan was only on the team a few years and didn't play much, but his name lives on through history.

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned it...

That is awesome ... I will dig for it ... Thanks for briging that up. That is the great thing about this feature: I am always finding out new things

Well, I was hoping to snag a couple more people, but I guess not. Maybe the name Jok gave it away.

April Fools...

WhiteSox5187

04-01-2008, 11:10 PM

Well, I was hoping to snag a couple more people, but I guess not. Maybe the name Jok gave it away.

April Fools...
Hahahaha, I fell for it! Though I was wondering "Why would they still be in Sarastoa on April 1st, and how could someone survive much less have a baseball career after getting bit by an alligator?

voodoochile

04-01-2008, 11:14 PM

Hahahaha, I fell for it! Though I was wondering "Why would they still be in Sarastoa on April 1st, and how could someone survive much less have a baseball career after getting bit by an alligator?

Hey, I researched this bad boy. Opening day in 1954 was on April 13th. It was their first of 4 seasons doing ST in Tampa and yes there really was a guy named Jok. He appeared in 3 games that year and I think 2 the following year.

WhiteSox5187

04-01-2008, 11:42 PM

Hey, I researched this bad boy. Opening day in 1954 was on April 13th. It was their first of 4 seasons doing ST in Tampa and yes there really was a guy named Jok. He appeared in 3 games that year and I think 2 the following year.
Well, kudos for the research! This was a GREAT job.

StatManDu

04-02-2008, 01:34 AM

ONLY HIT OF THE SEASON A HOMER

Player Date Foe (Pitcher) Men on
Jon Garland* June 18, 2006 At Cincinnati (Yan) 2-run
Notes— Second at bat and fourth plate appearance of the game and season… Came with two outs and Rob Mackowiak on base. … Gave the Sox a 6-0 lead in an 8-1 win. … Finished the season with five at bats … Third career hit and first career extra-base hit. … First homer by a Sox pitcher since Steve Kealey on Sept. 6, 1971. … First homer by a Sox pitcher in a road game since Gary Peters on Aug. 2 1969 at Detroit. … First home run by a Sox pitcher in a National League park since Juan Pizarro at Dodger Stadium (vs. Angels) on May 8, 1964. … First Sox pitcher to homer in his own victory since Danny Murphy homered and got the win in relief in the second game of a doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins at Comiskey Park on June 28, 1970. …First Sox starting pitcher to homer in his own victory since Peters on Aug. 2, 1969 at Detroit.f

Nelson Santovenia July 11, 1992 At Boston (Dopson) 2-run
Notes—First at bat with the White Sox. … Joey Cora was on first with a single. … Sox lost the game 11-2. … Last of his 21 career homers and the second-to-last hit of the veteran catcher’s career.

Bob Priddy* June 19, 1968Cleveland (Tiant) Solo
Note—Only career homer came in his 50th career at bat, seventh of the season and second of he game. … His next hit wouldn’t come until April 29, 1970 when he was with the Atlanta Braves. …This home run came in the fifth inning and gave the Sox a 1-0 lead in a 3-1 loss before 8,643 at ComiskeyPark. … Priddy started this game but did not get a decision. … The homer was one of only 16 Tiant would surrender during his 21-9, 1.60 ERA campaign in which he logged 258.1 innings.

Smoky Burgess Sept. 15, 1964 At Detroit (Wickersham) Solo
Note—First at bat with the White Sox after being claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh Sept. 12 resulted in the first of what would be a franchise-record 50 pinch-hits. … The portly 37-year-old led off the eighth with a game-tying pinch-hit home run. Sox went on to win the game3-2 in 10th innings.

Stan Johnson Sept. 23, 1960 At Cleveland (Funk) Solo
Notes—Solo homer in the ninth inning a 7-0 win came in his second career at bat and second at bat of the season. … The home run also turned out to be the only hit of Johnson’s career, which spanned eight games and nine at bats. … Inserted in the ninth as a pinch-hitter for Minnie Minoso, who had been ejected for throwing his bat, according to retrosheet.org. Minoso was probably brushed back after Ted Kluszewski, the previous batter, went deep.

Stan Jok May 1, 1955 Baltimore (McDonald) Solo
Note—Only career home run for the third baseman-outfielder came in a doubleheader before 19,083 at ComiskeyPark (unsure of which game). … Hit—the last came eight days before the Sox released him.